Liquidambar deadwood query/concern

[TCGreen]

Hi,

I've recently got this beauty and I'm reading up.on them.

As the back of the tree there are two large hollow wounds from old branches perhaps. The wood is very soft and rotten/dead??

I've scraped alot of most of this away and the two holes virtually meet in the centre of the trunk.

Can this tree survive with such wounds ?
I'm thinking I should remove all soft deadwood and seal?

Water is envitably going sit in the top hole and surely this is not good.

I hope this isn't the end for this tree as I hope you agree it has lots of character and potential..

Thanks in advance

 

[ShadyStump]

You could take a thin bit- like 1/8 inch- and drill a small hole from the top cavity to the bottom to allow for drainage, then clean it up and treat with wood hardener and maybe a sealant like you were thinking.

There's plenty of trees out there with hollowed rotten trunks, but still quite healthy, so letting it go for a bit on its own is also an option. I'd keep a close eye on it while going through that process though.

 

[Cmd5235]

Welcome to the world of liquidambar! I think it'll be okay with a small hole drilled throughout. Liquidambar are pretty tough trees. I think the character from that trunk over time will look fantastic.

 

[Cmd5235]

Personally I'd also pot that tree a bit deeper to cover those fine roots

 

[Shibui]

Only the outer layers actually do the work of moving water and nutrients up and down the tree. The woody centre is just for strength. Loads of trees live for many years with the centre completely hollow There are some old redwoods you can drive a car through and still alive and growing. Hollow centre will not cause any problem for your tree. The fungi that are causing the wood to rot don't usually affect the living outer layers so the tree will just keep growing.
Cut a drain hole through the middle to allow water to drain and make the dead areas features in your bonsai design.

 

[TCGreen]

Thanks so much , this is very reassuring and great advice. I was kind of sure it was OK but wanted to check with some experienced Liquidambars!
I absolutely love the tree and it's the first one I have with such an impressive trunk and nebari so I'm keen to do all I can to make this a great bonsai.

I live in the North West UK and it's pretty windy and wet here ?
And advice on that?

Kind regards

Tom

 

[TCGreen]

Only the outer layers actually do the work of moving water and nutrients up and down the tree. The woody centre is just for strength. Loads of trees live for many years with the centre completely hollow There are some old redwoods you can drive a car through and still alive and growing. Hollow centre will not cause any problem for your tree. The fungi that are causing the wood to rot don't usually affect the living outer layers so the tree will just keep growing.
Cut a drain hole through the middle to allow water to drain and make the dead areas features in your bonsai design.

Thank you , I've drilled a hole and smoothed the hollow. What would you say on the wood hardener option and sealing? Or should I let nature take its course? I'd like to avoid using chemicals where possible. Thanks

 

[Shibui]

Wood hardener will delay decomposition. It will not make any difference to the health of the tree. Eventually it will rot right through no matter what you do.
It will be hard to seal the holes as they appear large and deep. Again sealing will just delay the decomposition or may even promote it if the sealer protects the fungi from dry. The tree cannot heal over the rotting wood or a hollow. It is possible to get a tree to heal by filling the hollow with something solid and durable. Saw a post about that just recently here but did not mark it. Maybe someone else did? Healing will still take a few years, possibly more after you provide solid footing for the callus to grow over.
As mentioned, I would consider using the hollows as features and redesign the tree to show it off. There are many entire liquidamber bonsai but not so many hollow ones so yours will be even more special.

 

[Maiden69]

The instructions above are good if you want to keep the holes. If you want to close them read Mach5 thread.